Breast MRI for diagnosis

Breast MRI may help diagnose breast cancer in some women.

For women with hard-to-find (occult) breast cancers who have cancer in the lymph nodes in the underarm area (axillary nodes) or metastases at diagnosis, MRI may help find the original tumor in the breast [94].

Other uses for breast MRI under study include distinguishing cancerous breast lumps from benign (non-cancer) ones and checking whether cancer has spread to the axillary lymph nodes [94-95].

Breast MRI for surgical planning

An increasingly common, but controversial use of breast MRI is as a tool to help decide whether a woman should have mastectomy or lumpectomy.

Breast MRI can find small tumors in the breast that may be missed by a mammogram. Some health care providers use breast MRI before surgery to see how widely the cancer appears to have spread throughout the breast.

A major concern about using breast MRI in this way is that it's not clear if the small masses an MRI finds are more effectively treated with mastectomy or with lumpectomy plus radiation therapy [96-98].

Studies have shown women who have breast MRI before surgery are more likely to have a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy plus radiation therapy [99-101]. Based on the breast MRI images, women chose mastectomy though it may not have been a better option.

A meta-analysis that combined the results of 4 studies showed using breast MRI before surgery to make treatment decisions did not lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence [97].

This means women chose mastectomy over lumpectomy based on breast MRI results when lumpectomy plus radiation therapy would have been an equally good option. So, preoperative breast MRI may lead to more mastectomies rather than more effective treatment.

Some findings also show women who have breast MRI before surgery are more likely to have prophylactic mastectomy of the healthy (contralateral) breast [101].

These topics are still under study.

Talk with your provider if you have any questions about the benefits and risks of using breast MRI for planning treatment.

Circulating tumor cell levels can help predict survival for people diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer [108-109].

The more circulating tumor cells in the blood, the more advanced metastatic breast cancer is likely to be.

Having more of these cells may also predict a lack of response to treatment.

Similarly, circulating tumor DNA is under study for use in monitoring metastatic breast cancer and predicting treatment response in metastatic cancers [110-112].

At this time, circulating tumor cell and circulating tumor DNA tests should not be used to guide treatment because they haven’t been shown to offer benefit [113-116].

However, these topics are under study.

Circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA tests for people with early breast cancer

Circulating tumor cells may help predict recurrence and survival in people with early breast cancer [117-119].

At this time, circulating tumor cell tests should not be used to guide treatment.

This topic is under study.

Learn about Komen-funded research on circulating tumor cell tests in a recent Science Buzz.

Our commitment to research

At Susan G. Komen®, we are committed to saving lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities and investing in breakthrough research to prevent and cure breast cancer. Our Research Program is an essential driving force for achieving this mission. Since our inception in 1982, Komen has provided funding to support research grants that have greatly expanded our knowledge of breast cancer and helped us understand that breast cancer is not just a single disease but many diseases, unique to each individual. Going forward, our commitment to research will contribute significantly to our ability to achieve our Bold Goal of reducing the current number of breast cancer deaths in the U.S. by 50 percent by 2026.

To date, Komen has provided more than $988M to researchers in 47 states, the District of Columbia and 22 countries to support research that has resulted in a better understanding of breast cancer; earlier detection; personalized, less invasive treatments for what was once a “one-treatment-fits-all” disease; and improvements in both quality of life and survival rates.